Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) Shares Down 5.6% on Insider Selling

Key Points

• Shares slid 5.6% after insider David A. Glazer sold 9,000 shares on Dec. 12 for about $1.67M, trimming his stake 2.13%; mid-day volume was ~49.5M shares, down ~37% from the average.
• Analyst and financial context: the consensus rating is "Hold" with a $172.28 target, despite a recent earnings beat (EPS $0.21 vs. $0.17) and 62.8% YoY revenue growth, while the stock trades at a high valuation (P/E ~422).

Shares of Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR - Get Free Report) dropped 5.6% on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $176.50 and last traded at $177.29. Approximately 49,486,459 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 37% from the average daily volume of 79,142,508 shares. The stock had previously closed at $187.75.

Specifically, insider David A. Glazer sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.91, for a total transaction of $1,673,190.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 413,639 shares in the company, valued at $76,899,626.49. The trade was a 2.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PLTR shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Palantir Technologies from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Palantir Technologies from $170.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Palantir Technologies from $155.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Palantir Technologies from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Palantir Technologies from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $172.28.

Palantir Technologies Stock Down 5.6%

The stock has a market cap of $422.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 422.13, a PEG ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 1.49. The company's fifty day moving average is $179.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $164.76.

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Palantir Technologies had a net margin of 28.11% and a return on equity of 15.48%. Palantir Technologies's revenue for the quarter was up 62.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Palantir Technologies Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Palantir Technologies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palantir Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Palantir Technologies in the first quarter worth about $27,000. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palantir Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Palantir Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new stake in shares of Palantir Technologies during the second quarter worth $27,000. 45.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palantir Technologies Company Profile

Palantir Technologies, Inc engages in the business of building and deploying software platforms that serve as the central operating systems for its customers. It operates under the Commercial and Government segments. The Commercial segment focuses on customers working in non-government industries. The Government segment is involved in providing services to customers that are the United States government and non-United States government agencies.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.